‘Move airport offshore’

A view of the participants of the seminar on GST Implementation: Impact on Real Property Market.

A VETERAN developer has suggested that the Penang International Airport in Bayan Lepas be relocated offshore.

Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) Penang chairman Datuk Jerry Chan proposed that a man-made island be created offshore for a bigger airport to be built as the current one was too small and could not be expanded forever.

He said the relocation of the airport would also free its current site of more than 323ha for property development, most likely for affordable housing.

He said if the current airport was expanded, it would mean more planes flying over the densely populated working areas in Bayan Lepas and a big risk should there be a crash.

“What do you do in the next 15 to 20 years. Either you give some of your flights away to Kedah or build a bigger airport elsewhere if you want to retain the flights in Penang,” Chan told reporters after the opening of a seminar on the impact of the GST on the real property market at Cititel Penang yesterday.

Chan also proposed that the state government progressively take back factory land in Bayan Lepas, when their leases expire in about 20 years, for property development such as high-rise housing.

He said the factories could be relocated to the mainland where land was abundant and cheaper.

He said if these land were to be taken back, there would be less need for reclamation on the island. - The Star